Review of the ASUS ROG Swift PG27UCDM – UHD QD OLED on 27 inches with high-end performance and minor weaknesses

Color Performance

As a QD OLED, the monitor covers up to 80% of the Rec.2020 color space and 97% of the Adobe RGB color space – ideal for anyone who has requirements beyond sRGB or P3. However, the decisive factor is whether ASUS has carried out a clean factory calibration and rectified the firmware problems of its bigger brother.

Color space coverage

 

Factory setting compared to sRGB (Uniform Brightness on)

 

Factory settings with Windows 11 ACM (sRGB profile)

 

OSD sRGB Color Space

 

OSD sRGB Color Cal. Mode

 

OSD DCI-P3 Color Space

 

As delivered, the monitor shows the typical QD OLED oversaturation as the color space is not limited to sRGB. However, the white point is hit quite well. A slight red cast is caused by a deviating RGB balance across the gray levels. If you use the Windows sRGB mode and leave the monitor in standard mode, you get good color accuracy with an average Delta E of 1.4.

The sRGB mode available in the OSD delivers a similar result. The DCI-P3 mode (Gamma 2.2) achieves an average Delta E value of 1.1 in the ColorChecker – absolutely sufficient for creative applications. Overall, the calibration of the PG27UCDM is significantly better than that of the PG32UCDM. The monitor fulfills the promise of a Delta E below 2 and is therefore also suitable for color-critical work.

Measurement adjustment with HardwareDealz

What was the intention behind the measurement comparison with HardwareDealz? Since I can’t test all the monitors in the world, I wanted to find out to what extent there are differences between Igor’sLAB and HardwareDealz. In other words: If you see a review of a monitor at HardwareDealz, you can be sure that the same monitor will perform basically similarly at my site. Take a look at the small comparison table.

If you take a closer look, you will notice that the Delta-E values are almost identical. The biggest difference lies in the grayscale measurement – which can be explained by the limitations of the x-Rite i1-Pro3 at low brightness levels. It can only measure down to 0.1 nits, whereas my MK550T can measure down to 0.05 nits and my Konica Minolta CA-P427 even down to 0.001 nits. When it comes to color accuracy in the ColorChecker, the differences are marginal.

Interim conclusion

The current status shows: The measurement results between HardwareDealz and Igor’sLAB are comparable – at least for QD-OLED. Further measurement comparisons with a conventional LCD panel and an LCD panel with mini LED backlight and FALD are planned. For complete transparency, I have linked my data – in particular the measurement of the sRGB Cal. mode at 200 nits. The colleagues always measure at 200 nits – you can do it that way. However, I measured the PG27UCDM in the default setting at 260 nits, as it is intended ex works. Of course, the video from HardwareDealz is also linked.

 

 

A note: The measurement logs generated by Calman are rounded to one decimal place. Compare the logs with the images shown above. In future, I will always use the PDF protocols in my articles – this saves work without you having to make any compromises. Have fun comparing the measurement results!